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AXIS Alert A severe bug has been discovered in Vista Service Pack 1 and Windows Server 2008 that may corrupt AXIS Datasets. Please do not run AXIS on the compromised systems before obtaining and installing hotfixes that are now available from Microsoft. Click here for more information. A Quick Guide to Hardware and Operating Systems (Revised June 16th 2008) Advice Please call Phil Gold (416-250-6777 Ext 224) for up to the minute information or advice, since the situation changes quickly. What's changed recently Intel on top - Quad-Cores now dominate The new Core family of dual-core and quad-core chips from Intel has now supplanted the earlier Pentium IV based processors across desktops, notebooks and servers. High performance has become much more affordable. For those with deep pockets, Intel offers Core 2 Extreme processors for desktops and notebooks. These run at higher speeds than the mainstream processors we normally recommend and are not listed below. Intel is now moving from a 65 nm process to the more efficient 45 nm process and we recommend these newer chips where available. AMD have just introduced their third generation Opteron processor and we have just tested some in house but we do not find them competitive at this time. Processors AXIS makes strong demands on the floating-point capabilities of your processor, so we will always advise you to buy the best floating-point performance you can afford. We recommend Quad Core processors where available so you can take advantage of AXIS Distributed processing. 1. Desktops Intel Quad Core Chips They are now available in the 45 nm process and represent outstanding value. The following Chips carry our top desktop recommendation.
Intel Dual-Core Chips Intel Core 2 Duo desktop chips generally run at higher speeds than the Core 2 Quad chips and are recommended if you are not using distributed processing. They are now available in the 45 nm process. The following models are recommended:
AMD Chips None recommended at this time. 2. Notebooks Intel Dual-Core Chips The 64-bit Core 2 Duo offers the best performance in a notebook chip and is now available at higher clock speeds. We recommend the new 45nm chips for their lower power consumption and larger cache size. The following models are strongly recommended:
Core 2 Duo offers such strong performance that we now withdraw our recommendation for all other notebook processors. AMD Dual-Core Chips AMD notebook processors are not recommended at this time. 3. Workstations and Servers Racks of dual-processor servers are a popular choice for scaling AXIS under Distributed Processing and Grid Computing. Where space is at a premium, Blade servers do an excellent job. We no longer recommend the use of any single or dual core processors, since excellent quad core processors are now available. Intel Xeon For dual processor servers we strongly recommend the latest Intel Quad Core 45nm chips which offer lower power consumption and larger cache size than the 65 nm generation:
For quad processor servers we strongly recommend the following Intel Quad Core processor:
AMD Opteron We do not recommend Opteron processors at this time. Run Times (* Recommended) Here are some estimated run times for a small AXIS batch job:
These tests can be quite sensitive to the types of jobs run in AXIS, and to the disk drives and memory systems in the PC. For multiple processors and cores, distributed processing is turned on using the automatic helper option. This table should be used as a rough guide only. I also want to draw your attention to some factors that can stand between you and good performance.
How much memory you need depends on how many different applications you like to run simultaneously. AXIS needs at least 384 Meg per processor core. Memory has become very inexpensive recently. More memory is better, as it will allow you to multitask more efficiently. If you are buying a new machine, or you expect to run several applications at once, it is better to buy 512 Meg per processor core or higher. If you are running the Stochastic Processing Module you will need extra memory. We recommend at least 1 GB of memory per processor core. Windows Vista, the latest desktop operating system from Microsoft, is very hungry for memory. We recommend 2GB of memory if you use Vista, since it needs the best part of a gigabyte of memory for itself before AXIS is even loaded. AXIS allows you to export assumptions and projections. This can take up a lot of disk space. We suggest a minimum of 60 Gigabytes for a laptop and 120 Gigabytes for a desktop computer, not because AXIS needs this much space, but because these disks are extremely inexpensive today. The AXIS System files take up about 300 Megabytes. You can now get drives for laptops with capacities of up to 160 Gigabytes. For desktops, you can get drives of up to 500 Gigabytes each (and you can get 4 into 1 PC!). AXIS requires a screen resolution of 1024 by 768 (XGA) or higher. For a laptop we recommend at least a 14-inch screen and for a desktop a 17-inch LCD screen – the bigger the better. We distribute AXIS and all updates via the Internet. If you do not have a good Internet connection we can supply AXIS on a CD. This CD can be read in any optical drive. Operating Systems We support and recommend Windows 2000, Windows XP, Windows 2003 Server and Windows 2008 Server. We have found them to be very stable and much easier to manage than previous versions of Windows. We also support the new Windows Vista operating system, but we are not recommending Vista at this time. AXIS new releases no longer support Windows 95, Windows 98, Windows ME or Windows NT. Although older versions of AXIS will run on these operating systems we can no longer fully support those operating systems because Microsoft no longer produces service packs to fix the bugs in them. Sometimes the bugs in those older operating systems can affect AXIS, and Microsoft will not assist us, or you, to resolve them, as they do for the newer operating systems. Sometimes we can help you without Microsoft’s help, but in other cases we cannot find a work around and now you know why. We strongly recommend users to have an Internet and e-mail connection since we provide a lot of support and updates over the Internet from our web site www.ggy.com.Information for IT Professionals For further information for IT Support click here: www.ggy.com/faq/techinfo.asp Recommended Hardware for a GridLink Farm You may be considering a 16 core farm or a 128 core farm, or something in between. We strongly recommend you to consider your future needs before setting up even a small farm, so that you can continue to use the hardware you choose now as part of the larger farm you may need tomorrow. Please review this word document for further information on hardware requirements: |
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